


New Colors

by killingmonsterswritingthings



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Gen, Hair Dyeing, Hair Washing, Haircuts, Just a lot of hair-related activities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 06:55:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9480137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killingmonsterswritingthings/pseuds/killingmonsterswritingthings
Summary: His dark roots were at least five centimeters long and by now all traces of the toner he had carefully massaged and dyed into his hair so long ago had evaporated so it looked more yellow than blond. He really didn’t want straw or anything that looked like it on his head.orTaako recruits his friends to pamper him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> listen this is literally 6k of self-indulgent hair stuff because i just need some sweet shit in my life

Taako stood in front of the mirror, brushing out his hair and staring at his roots. His ears twitched unhappily, drooping a little. He leaned in to run over the roots with his fingers, as well as to get an accurate measurement of their length. In the recent months he had neglected his hair for adventuring and it definitely showed. He sighed.

His dark roots were at least five centimeters long and by now all traces of the toner he had carefully massaged and dyed into his hair so long ago had evaporated so it looked more yellow than blond. He really didn’t want straw or anything that looked like it on his head.

He sighed and stepped back, putting the hairbrush away. Dyeing his hair on his own was a pain, so he would have to find someone to do it for him. Magnus would be eager, he was sure, but he was already out for the day and might fuck it up. And Merle might have a well-maintained beard but asking him to do Taako’s hair would probably be a bit too far.

He inspected the ends of his hair. They would need, trimming, too. Brittle hair would do him no good.

  


There was a knock at his door.

“Come in!” Taako shouted. He was too far away and too lazy to get the door, even with magic.

Angus poked his head in. “Hello, sir.”

“Ango!” Taako grinned and waved him over. “What’s up?”

Angus shrugged and carefully stepped a little closer. “Nothing much, to be honest.”

“You’re bored,” Taako said and his grin grew wider.

“Yes,” Angus said after a second of hesitation. “I was going to ask you to teach me more magic, since I _did_ master that last spell.”

Taako hummed, a plan already forming in his head. “Ango, listen,” he said, “I’m going to teach you something, but you’re going to have to work for it.”

“Okay!” Angus’ eyes lit up.

“And,” Taako added, his ears already betraying his excitement, “we’ll need a little more help.”

For that he had to find his stone of farspeech though and in the current state of his room it wouldn’t be easy.

“Ohhh, should I go get Magnus and Merle?” Angus asked.

Taako shook his head. “No, just hold a second I gotta… find my stone.” He had started digging through a pile of dirty clothes. Maybe he had left it in one of his pockets.

He moved on to his bedroom, where another batch of laundry was waiting. He would really have to deal with that at some point. Finally he started looking under his magazines and books, even though that was less likely.

“Sir, do you mean your stone of farspeech?” Angus asked from somewhere out in the shared living space.

“Of course!” Taako yelled back and rolled his eyes. “I know exactly where my gem collection is, little man. I don’t need to look for those stones.”

“No, I mean, are you looking for _this_ stone of farspeech.”

Taako wheeled around and spotted Angus in his door, holding up Taako’s stone.

“Where did you find it?” He strode over and accepted the stone from Angus.

“The kitchen counter.”

Taako internally retraced his steps. Yesterday Kravitz had called him while he had been making tea, that’s when he must have left it on the counter.

Well, better for Angus to find it than the director getting mad at him when he didn’t answer the call and had to be paged over the intercom.

“Are you calling Mr Kravitz, by any chance?” Angus wanted to know.

“None of your business,” Taako answered automatically while he switched to Kravitz’ channel on the stone. Then he hesitated. “ _Actually_ , I take it back, since you’re part of this experience, it _is_ your business. Yes, I’m calling Kravitz.”

“What is this _experience_?” Angus asked but Taako held up his hand to shush him.

“Kravitz, my man?” he asked.

For a moment nothing happened except a slight crackling, then Kravitz’ voice sounded from the stone. “Hello Taako.”

“You busy?” Taako asked, twirling a strand of hair around his finger. He pointedly didn’t look at Angus and his big, curious eyes.

“I’m always busy.” Kravitz sounded amused. “But I can also always make time for you.”

Taako grinned. “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said, before remembering why he had called. “Listen, I have a thing you could help me with, potentially, _and_ you could meet little Ango in the process, so it’s win-win, really.”

“Is it a big favor or a small favor?” Kravitz asked.

“It has nothing to do with my job, I promise. No dying involved. Nothing dangerous involved, even,” Taako said. “I just need some help with my hair.”

“Your hair?” Kravitz and Angus echoed at the same time.

Taako sighed and his ears flattened against his head. “Come on, you’ve seen my roots. But if you don’t wanna help me...”

“I wouldn’t want to miss it, to be honest,” Kravitz said. “I’ll be right over.”

The line cut off and Taako was left standing there, staring awkwardly at Angus, who seemed way too excited about getting to tamper with Taako’s hair.

  


A minute later or so a rift opened in the living room, just opposite the window overlooking the moon, and Kravitz stepped through.

He took one look at Taako, tilting his head to the side slightly, and grinned. “I can see the emergency now.”

“Rude,” Taako sniffed. “You could have said hello first.”

“You’re right,” Kravitz said, and walked over to Angus, stretching out his gloved hand. “You must be Angus. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Angus’ eyes went wide. “The pleasure is all mine, s-sir, uh, Kravitz,” he stammered, shaking Kravitz hand, while Taako mumbled “You’re the worst,” under his breath and rolled his eyes at Kravitz.

“Just Kravitz is fine.” Kravitz laughed, enduring Angus’ way too long handshake with glee, before he finally turned to Taako. “Hello, Darling.”

“Just kiss me,” Taako said with a fake pout.

So Kravitz did, and Taako was willing to forgive him anything.

  


  


“Okay, so here’s the plan,” he started as he ushered Kravitz and Angus out the door. They had a lot to do.

First they would have to make a trip to Fantasy Costco. Taako had long since run out of hair dye and he had grown sick of the blond, anyway. It was time to give him something else to look at in the mirror every morning.

Kravitz had never been to Fantasy Costco and Taako knew he would have to pay attention to not let Angus wander off.

“Remember,” Taako said as they entered through the doors, “we’re looking for hair dye. Don’t get distracted.”

“Sir, the last time we were here you just wanted to get a bathrobe and we ended up with two capes, a decorative crystal ball that has no magical ability but ‘looked sick’ and a plant you let die within a week,” Angus listed.

“Don’t call me out like that,” Taako said.

“ _And_ ,” Angus added, “I had to talk you out of buying another goldfish.”

“That would have been for Magnus! Steven needs company.”

Kravitz chuckled. “Clearly I’ve been missing out.”

“It’s hard work,” Angus said. He had taken over the lead and was walking towards the shampoo aisle. Or at least Taako thought he was.

“So,” Kravitz said after a moment, “which color are you going for?”

Taako shrugged, turning a corner. Nope, this was cleaning products. Moving on. “I’m not sure yet.”

Kravitz bumped his shoulder into Taako’s and then carefully took a strand of his hair between his fingers. Taako’s ears twitched. “I think purple would suit you. Although light colors are a great contrast to your skin.”

“Pink?” Angus offered, skipping along in front of them. He peeked around the next corner. “Oh, here it is!”

“I had pink like a year ago,” Taako said. “I want something _new_.”

“Green would probably infringe on Merle’s nature brand,” Kravitz mused.

They stepped into the right aisle and Taako immediately zoned in on the hair dye. “Good job, Ango!”

“Thank you, sir!”

“How about pastel blue?” Kravitz asked, browsing through the different tubes, boxes and containers. Some of them were infused with magic, which was exactly what Taako was going for. They tended to look and feel the best.

Taako hummed. “An option, but not my first choice.”

“There’s not that many choices, base-color wise,” Kravitz noted.

“I could always go for rainbow. That’s a classic,” Taako said. “Horrible upkeep though. Don’t think I wanna deal with that...”

“A lighter red?” Angus held up a tube that looked closer to ginger than fire.

Taako shook his head. “Nah, little man, not my jam.” He stepped closer to the selection of purples and took a rich, not too dark color into his hands. “Might as well go with purple.”

Kravitz made a little triumphant noise and Taako whirled around, grinning, and held up the tube.

“I knew I was a good influence,” Kravitz said.

“Don’t get cocky on me now, loverboy,” Taako said, pointing at him menacingly but still grinning.

Kravitz rolled his eyes and took the dye from him. “Sure, darling. Get another one of those, your hair is too long to do it with just one.”

“Good thinking, sir!” Angus said, offering the basket he had taken at the entrance. The boy always thought ahead.

They piled bleach for Taako’s terrible, terrible roots, plus not just two, but three tubes of the dye into the basket, as well as some shampoo and conditioner and other beauty products Taako _really_ needed.

  


Magnus and Merle were back when they returned to the shared quarters.

Taako whirled through the door, followed by Kravitz and Angus, who he had talked into carrying the two bags they had needed.

“Oh! Hey guys! You’re back! I thought you were gonna be out all day.”

Helping Avi wasn’t as much work as we thought it would be,” Magnus said, then eyed first Taako, then the bag. “Hey, what’s that? Ango, what did he drag you into this time?”

Merle peered up from where he was cleaning his warhammer. “Hello Kravitz.”

“We’re gonna give my hair an upgrade,” Taako announced.

Kravitz took Angus’ bag from him and dumped it on the table, while Angus disappeared into the bathroom.

“Your hair?” Merle echoed.

“Yeah, trim it a bit, give it some new color…” Taako shrugged.

Magnus hummed. “Seems like a good idea.”

Angus reappeared. “I got the scissors! The bathroom is probably too small to do it there, and the light here is better.”

“You should get bangs again,” Magnus said and took the scissors from Angus. Taako looked at him with suspicion as he weighed the scissors in his hand. Since when did Magnus have good opinions about hair?

“Bangs?”

“You had bangs when we first met,” Merle said.

“Oh,” Taako touched the front of his hair. He remembered now. He had had bangs, but with all the Bureau stuff going on, he had ended up forgetting to maintain them and just let them grow out. “Maybe that would be good, yeah...”

“You would just have to be careful of them not getting in the way with all your adventuring,” Angus said. Taako remembered when he had had to pin them back to be able to see during fights and he frowned.

“Ango’s right.”

Kravitz stepped closer and framed Taako’s face with his hands for a moment before running them through the hairs closest to Taako’s eyes. “It would be doable though. You would just have to maintain them properly… And you don’t like getting close to people, let alone hostile people, anyway.”

“That’s true.” He still wasn’t sure if he wanted to put in the work but worst case he could still grow them out again. He craved change. “Let’s do it.”

“Dye or cutting first?” Magnus wanted to know. He was already getting up to get a stool for Taako to sit on. Taako appreciated the enthusiasm.

“Cutting, duh. No need to waste valuable dye.” Taako was still looking at Kravitz.

“Good thinking, sir,” Angus said. “Also you should change before we start, so you don’t ruin your clothes.”

With his eyes still on Kravitz, Taako grinned and parroted: “Good thinking, Ango.”

“You should probably stop staring at me and go wash your hair,” Kravitz said quietly.

Taako sighed. “But it’s so much fun.”

“Should I come with you?”

“Please.”

Kravitz laughed a little and took Taako’s hand. “We’ll be right back,” he said.

“Nothing dirty in the bath, please!”

“Stop assuming things!” Taako called over his shoulder, then winked at Kravitz. Kravitz rolled his eyes.

“Don’t use my shampoo again!” Magnus reminded him.

“Oh!” Taako stopped and turned. “Ango, throw me that shampoo we bought.”

“We should actually just get your hair wet,” Kravitz said. He caught the bottle of shampoo Angus threw them anyway out of reflex. “I’ve heard it’s better to bleach your hair before actually washing it.”

“You’re so smart,” Taako cooed. He didn’t really care either way, but it did sound like it made sense.

Kravitz laughed and pushed him into the bathroom. “Alright, get all your hair in the tub there.”

“You make it sound like it’s sentient. It’s not that much...” It reached just past his waist by now, that wasn’t long by other elves’ standards. He glowered a little at Kravitz and then gathered it up to hold his head over the edge of the tub.

“Good boy,” Kravitz said.

“Not my kinda dirty talk.”

Kravitz didn’t respond – but Taako could imagine the eye roll – and turned on the water instead. “Give me your hand,” he said.

“Why?”

“So you can tell me if the water’s too hot, babe,” Kravitz said softly. Taako immediately held out his hand. There was nothing he hated more than under- or overestimating the water temperature.

Kravitz took hold of his wrist to hold his hand in place, even though that clearly wasn’t necessary, and held the shower head over it.

“Just slightly too cold,” Taako said. A second later Kravitz had adjusted the temperature. “Perfect,” Taako purred.

“Stop talking or you’re gonna get water in your mouth, I haven’t done this for anyone in a while,” Kravitz warned.

“What, you use to work as a barb-” Taako got a mouthful of water as Kravitz started soaking his hair. He sputtered, and despite the water running over his ears he could still clearly hear Kravitz’ laughter.

Despite that initial mishap Kravitz seemed to know what he was doing. He soaked Taako’s hair evenly, running his finger through the lengths so it didn’t tangle. For a moment Taako wished he would actually wash it, because Kravitz’ hands on his scalp felt seriously good. But then Kravitz had already shut off the water again and was carefully patting Taako’s hair with a towel before wrapping it up around his head. He even avoided his ears.

“Up you go back to the others,” he said, offering his hand to lead Taako.

Taako took it.

The common area had transformed when they left the bathroom. Magnus had put the stool next to the dinner table, on which Angus had spread out all the supplies they had bought. Angus himself was standing ready with a comb and the scissors – observed by Magnus’ careful eyes. Taako was sure Angus could handle himself but then again what did he know about little humans.

Merle had put on the kettle in their kitchenette and was now back at the table inspecting the bleach package.

“Let me do the measurements on that one,” Taako said quickly before Merle could get it into his head to try to mix it. “I know what my hair needs.”

“Cutting first, darling,” Kravitz reminded him.

“Right.” Taako deflated a little and then dropped the towel from his head in a flourish. Kravitz sighed and picked it up. “I should get changed then.”

He vanished into his room and then stood there for a moment, wondering what he should wear. All his things were _important_.

“Just wear something! You have a lot of things you never wear in that closet of yours!” Merle called from outside.

“No, I don’t!” Taako yelled back but started going through his wardrobe anyway and finally pulled out an old shirt that he had kept because… mostly because he hadn’t wanted to throw it away, but wearing it was too painful. This was the perfect use for it. So he changed shirts and then switched his pants for a pair that had seen better years.

“This should do,” he announced and stepped back into the living room.

Magnus and Merle watched him a little hesitantly but didn’t comment anything as he waltzed over and took the towel from Kravitz hands to put it around his shoulders.

He sat down on the stool with a sigh that didn’t fit his excitement at all.

“I would offer to do it, sir, but I know I’m not experienced enough,” Angus said.

Taako clicked his tongue. “Okay, Ango, listen… I’m gonna make you a deal here. You can cut some of the ends, but Kravitz has to guide your hand, okay?”

Angus’ face split in an excited grin. “Yes!”

Kravitz laughed and took the comb from Angus but left him the scissors. “Let’s get to work then.”

He started combing through Taako’s hair methodically and Taako was impressed that he only had to wince once because the teeth of the combs got caught. He didn’t admit his amazement, of course, and kept complaining.

Finally his hair was brushed and tangle-free and Kravitz smoothed it down over his shoulders. “Alright, how much do you want off?”

“As little as possible,” Taako replied immediately. “You know, just those nasty split ends so a centimeter or maybe two at worst.”

Kravitz took a strand and held it up, indicating the cutoff with his finger. “Like this?”

Taako squinted at it, then shrugged. “Seems good enough, my guy.”

“Alright,” Kravitz said and combed through the back again, then held it there. “Angus, come here. See where I’m holding the comb? Cut off the hair below that.”

Taako heard the snip of the scissors and then an excited squeak from Angus.

“I hope you’re not cutting any holes into my perfect mane. Oh, and watch the ears, please.”

“They’ve barely started,” Magnus said. “It looks good so far.”

After the first few cuts Kravitz and Angus seemed to settle into a kind of rhythm – Kravitz combing and indicating the length of the hair, Angus carefully cutting. Finally they moved to the front, where Taako could see them better.

“Looks like fun,” he commented.

“Oh, it is,” Angus said happily, his tongue sticking out as he cut off another bit of hair.

Taako looked up and met eyes with Kravitz, who had his smile hidden behind his free hand. This was so cheesy.

Finally Angus finished with the lengths of Taako’s hair and Taako looked at him while Kravitz did some minor adjustments so it didn’t look like someone had cut Taako’s hair with a very sharp ruler. Which Taako appreciated, because that didn’t sound like something he wanted anywhere near his hair.

“There we go,” Kravitz finally said, stepping back. “Do you still want that fringe?”

“Hell yeah,” Taako said before he could talk himself out of it. “Go for it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Magnus cheered.

“Listen, Ango, I’m sure you did a terrific job but I need Kravitz to do this – and Kravitz alone, alright?”

“Oh, sure, sir!” Angus said eagerly and shuffled off to join Merle, who was by now perched on the kitchen counter, cradling a hot cup of _something_ – it smelled distinctly like dirt – and watching them.

Kravitz bent down and combed the front of Taako’s hair over his eyes.

“Great, now I can’t see,” Taako remarked. “Make them short enough so they don’t get in the way but like… not ugly short, you know? Not middle-of-my-forehead short.”

Merle snorted somewhere off to the left.

“I think I get the idea,” Kravitz said.

Then he started cutting and Taako’s heart jumped in his throat.

“It’s just hair,” Magnus said. “It’ll grow back again. If it turns out ugly you can just hide it under your hat. _Or_ get an even uglier hat that’ll distract from the hair.”

“Who do you think I am?” Taako asked.

“Exactly the kind of person who would do that kind of thing,” Magnus said.

“I have taste!”

“ _Terrible_ taste,” Merle mumbled.

“I heard that!”

Kravitz chuckled to himself as he cut the fringe.

“You better not-”

“… cut a hole in it, yes, I won’t.”

Taako pouted a little, his ears drooping sideways, but refrained from saying anything more. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kravitz – but his hair was important.

  


Kravitz was a little too fast for Taako’s taste.

“Come on, up, go look at it.”

Taako sighed, brushed some hair off his knees and got up to shuffle to the bathroom and peer at himself in the mirror.

“Holy shit.”

Kravitz followed him, appearing behind him in the mirror. “Good?”

“It’s perfect, babe.”

Kravitz smiled. “Good.”

Taako smoothed down the wet hair over his forehead, even though he knew it would look better once the dye was in and it was actually dry. Then he turned and kissed Kravitz quickly before pulling him back into the living room, immediately steering towards the table and the bleach.

“Bowl?” he asked.

Magnus sighed and got up to fetch him one.

Taako grinned at him. “Knew you were the right guy to ask.”

Magnus rolled his eyes and handed him the bowl.

Taako had done this often enough that he knew how much bleach he would need and exactly how he had to mix it – and he didn’t trust any of the boys with it. He put some of the powder into the bowl and then poured a decent amount of oxidant after it. Then he started to stir.

“Are you sure that’s not too much?” Merle asked.

“No offense but have you seen my hair?” Taako asked, looking up from where he was basically treating the bleach like cake batter.

“Yeah, I’m looking at it right now.”

Taako stuck out his tongue at him.

  


This part didn’t take him very long and he finally reluctantly handed the bowl and the brush for applying to Kravitz.

“Can I try?” Angus asked.

“Sorry, bubbeleh, but I don’t think so,” Taako said. “Maybe with the dye later, you can fuck up less there.”

For a second it looked like Angus was going to pout but then he only nodded very seriously. “Of course, sir.”

“Jeez, Taako, lighten up,” Magnus mumbled.

“My hair is very important, Mags,” Taako said.

“We know,” Kravitz said and a second later Taako felt cold bleach on his head.

He yelped. “Hey!”

“No worries, I know what I’m doing. Kind of.” Kravitz started actually spreading the bleach on the roots of a strand of hair.

Taako was getting kind of scared. “What do you mean _kind of_?!”

“You asked me to do this, sweetheart.” Kravitz hummed a little and for a moment Taako wanted to jump up and just do the bleaching by himself in the bathroom mirror, but then he stayed put. Maybe it would all turn out fine. Maybe.

“You better not spill any of that,” he mumbled.

Really the worst that could happen was that Kravitz didn’t spread the bleach evenly, since Taako’s lengths were already blond.

“Looks fine from here,” Magnus commented.

“Shut up,” Taako grumbled. “You don’t even know how this works.”

“Uh, yeah, the stuff bleaches your hair. Takes the color out of it. Can burn if you put it on skin. There you go.” Magnus waved his hand dismissively.

Taako stuck out his tongue at him, too. “Well, aren’t you smart...”

“Don’t do that or it’ll get on your tongue,” Magnus said.

“Unlikely.”

  


It took him no more than five minutes to get impatient.

“Why is this taking so long?”

“You have a lot of hair,” Kravitz said.

“It’s just the roots!”

Objectively, Taako knew that Kravitz had made progress and that yes, he had a lot of hair, but this was ridiculous.

“Your roots are a lot in number and also very long,” Kravitz said very slowly but also very impatiently.

“But your hands are usually so quick and adept at everything,” Taako grinned. Kravitz paused in his efforts of putting bleach on Taako’s hair.

“Taako! Not in front of Ango!” Magnus complained.

“What? I didn’t say anything.”

“That’s okay, I didn’t hear anything,” Angus said seriously.

“See?”

Kravitz sighed. “Five more minutes.”

“Yay,” Taako grinned.

  


It took seven more minutes, but Taako _definitely_ wasn’t counting.

  


“Alright, now we just gotta wait,” Kravitz announced.

“Wait even longer?”

“Have you ever done this before?” Kravitz asked.

“He has,” Merle said. “He’s just as annoying every time.”

“Good to know...” Kravitz went over to the sink to wash out the bowl.

“I’m bored!” Taako announced.

“Read a book,” Kravitz said flatly.

“I have like, one book...”

“And trashy magazines,” Magnus added.

Taako ignored him. “Ango. What’s new? Any boy detective discoveries?”

“Not at the moment, sir,” Angus said dutifully. “I do have a science project going on, though. And I’ve been trying to teach myself spells but I’ve noticed that it works better if I receive guidance from you.”

“I’d ask you to make Steven’s bowl float but I think Magnus would hit me,” Taako said. “You sneak in anywhere this week?”

Angus pursed his lips and a slight crease appeared above his nose. “Well, I didn’t really _sneak_ , but-”

“Ohoho, did you try to get into the director’s office again?”

“Davenport didn’t notice me,” Angus said and he was very obviously trying to suppress a grin. “Unfortunately the director is _too good_ and has a security system I hadn’t seen yet. I have now, though, which most likely means she is going to change it.”

“Good on you, Ango!” Taako said at the same time as Magnus sighed: “You’ve corrupted him.”

“He solved a murder with us and didn’t bat an eye,” Merle said and waved his plant-arm. “He was corrupted long before we met him.”

“Also,” Taako added, “he may be corrupted but he’s far from evil, so that’s a good thing.”

“What are you even _talking_ about?” Kravitz mumbled.

“Fun things,” Taako grinned.

  


“So, Kravitz,” Magnus said after a few moments, “harvest any good souls recently?”

“That makes it sound extra creepy,” Kravitz said.

“So you do admit that it’s creepy.”

  


The rest of their wait passed in light bickering until Kravitz checked Taako’s hair – for the third time.

“I think it’s good now.”

“Okay, let’s go wash it out, it itches like crazy,” Taako said, jumping up off the stool.

“I don’t think that’s a good thing,” Magnus said.

“Sometimes things just have to itch,” Merle said wisely.

“Yeah, like your _junk_.”

Taako threw up his middle finger at both of them – Kravitz covered Angus’ eyes – and walked to the bathroom.

“Now we can use the new shampoo, right?” he asked Kravitz.

“Sure,” Kravitz said. He didn’t sound convinced but also like he didn’t want to argue with Taako. Which was sensible, because Taako would have gotten his way anyway.

Again Taako noticed how good Kravitz was at washing hair. Him massaging the shampoo into Taako’s scalp felt heavenly. The shampoo was also great but somehow Kravitz managed to be better – and that had never happened to Taako before. At least not where shampoo was concerned.

“Okay, I think we’re done for now.”

“I can’t wait to do that again,” Taako mumbled.

“Kinky,” Kravitz said immediately.

“Just because a guy likes having his hair washed? There’s weirder things.”

Kravitz grinned. “I didn’t say it was weird.”

“Fair point.”

“Are you talking about kinks again because I could do without that,” Magnus said as they came back into the living room.

“We didn’t say anything,” Taako said innocently.

“Liar.”

Taako saw Merle mouth “tentacles” at Magnus and Magnus grimace.

He flicked his ears and sat back down on the stoll while Kravitz rinsed out the bowl and brush.

“This is going to look so good on you.”

“Aww, thank you, darling,” he cooed.

“I agree,” Angus said, who was standing ready with bright eyes.

“Now you’re just trying to butter me up,” Taako said.

“I wasn’t trying to ‘butter you up’, sir. I was merely giving you a compliment. I would also like to try dyeing your hair, though.”

Taako had to laugh. “Alright, little man. I leave you up to Kravitz’ guidance once again.”

“So much pressure,” Kravitz mumbled. He had opened the lid of the dye and was pouring it into the bowl. Taako had the distinct feeling that dealing with dead people for so long had robbed Kravitz of any knowledge on how to deal with kids – if he had ever possessed any. But since he wasn’t much better himself, he wasn’t going to say anything.

“I hope you’re aware that this is going to take longer than the bleach,” Kravitz said as he raised the brush.

Taako rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know. But the dye smells better and doesn’t itch as much.”

“Fair point,” Kravitz said and gently put the first stroke down on Taako’s head.

“I still think the itching can’t be normal,” Magnus said.

“Mags, I love you, but stop making me feel bad about this. It’s all perfectly normal and we all suffer for good looks.”

“Okay, fine. Speak for yourself.” Magnus crossed his arms and leaned back. Kravitz shot him a look and shrugged. Better not argue with Taako on this.

“You watching me, Angus?” Kravitz asked and Taako strained to peer to the side where Angus was standing without turning his head and messing up the dye-job The boy was in fact watching intently, his face a little scrunched up as if he was trying to commit every little stroke that Kravitz made to memory. 

“Yes, sir!”

So after a few minutes Angus took over for Kravitz. His spreading of the dye was less focused than Kravitz’, but he seemed to do a decent job. Taako even moved his ears out of the way so he didn’t have to work around them as much.

Still after a while Angus’ arm grew tired and Kravitz relieved him again.

Taako felt like Kravitz had become better at this whole hair dyeing thing in the hour that they had been doing this. Every stroke was measured and calm and no dye dripped down onto his pants. It was kind of mesmerizing and even kind of hypnotizing.

He slipped into a meditation trance without even noticing it.

  


“...Taako?”

Taako blinked and came back to the surface of the pool of thoughts he had been submerged in.

Kravitz was kneeling in front of him, holding his hands.

“Ah, there you are.” He smiled.

“Sorry about that,” Taako said and his ears flicked nervously. “Apparently I needed some rest.”

“Are you sure my hair dyeing skills weren’t _so good_ that I put you into a trance?” Kravitz wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Taako gave a crooked grin. “Maybe that too.”

“This means you should be at almost optimal rest status now,” Angus cut in.

“And,” Magnus added, “the dye has been in your hair for over an hour now so you can probably wash that out.”

“Aw, I missed out on playing cards with you,” Taako pouted. He did love to cheat the others at card games. He especially loved levitating Magnus’ cards out of his reach and then switching select ones out for his own cards.

Merle grunted. “And isn’t that a relief...”

“What was that?”

“Just go wash out your hair.”

“Gladly,” Taako grinned. He stood up and grabbed Kravitz’ hand. “Come on, more work for you.”

“I’ll clean up out here,” Angus announced.

Magnus sighed. “I’ll help.”

Taako blew the both of them a kiss and then tugged Kravitz back into the bathroom.

“Conditioner this time, too,” he instructed as he bent over the tub. “I like my hair silky and shiny and easy to brush.”

Kravitz hummed and turned on the water. “I like your hair silky and shiny, too. And if I can run my fingers through it easily, that’s nice too.”

  


Taako could feel his hair turn softer by the second when Kravitz massaged in the conditioner. He was also about to slip back into a trance, when Kravitz put an ice-cold hand on the back of his neck, startling him out of it.

“Stay with me.”

“Fine,” Taako mumbled.

Kravitz waited exactly 30 seconds before rinsing out the conditioner and gave Taako the cue to slowly straighten up after he was done.

Kravitz wrapped his hair into a towel for the third and last time that day.

“Oh man, okay,” Taako said as he carefully patted it to get the excess water out. “Okay, so I gotta look at it now to make sure it turned out perfect, then rewrap it to have the grand reveal outside but it has to fall perfectly when I take off the towel.”

“Glamour yourself?” Kravitz offered and swatted Taako’s hands away.

Taako scoffed. “I’m better than that.”

Kravitz chuckled and removed the towel again. “Of course, dear. Okay, don’t look yet. I’m gonna brush it for you.”

“You know me too well,” Taako cooed.

Kravitz reached for the brush and then pushed Taako to sit down on the edge of the tub. “Just don’t yell at me when it pulls.”

“That’s what we used the conditioner for,” Taako said.

“Good point.”

Kravitz was really, _really_ good at this.

  


“Okay, you’re done.” Kravitz put the brush down on the toilet seat and took a step back.

“Ohhh, can I see?” Taako asked.

“It’s your hair...”

Taako jumped up and turned around to where the mirror was.

His ears shot straight up. He looked amazing. The purple worked perfectly with his eyes and his hair framed his face exceptionally well. It was still wet, of course, but he could see that the colour would still be just as vibrant once they were dry. It looked fresher and healthier than it had in a while.

“Perfect!” He clapped his hands together.

Kravitz smiled. “Let’s go show the others?”

“ _Yes!_ ”

Taako grabbed the towel. “Okay, if I put just a little magic in and you do your best to twirl the towel _around_ and not squish it all up in there, we should be peachy.”

“You could just leave the towel off?” Kravitz said.

“Uh, no. Where would be the fun in that?”

Kravitz sighed and gave in, as Taako had predicted. He saw Kravitz mentally prepare himself for the task while Taako burnt a spell-slot to dry his hair almost instantly.

Then Kravitz carefully crafted a loose towel turban on Taako’s head that Taako infused with magic throughout.

“That should do it,” they said at the same time. They smiled at each other.

  


Taako swooshed out back into the room, followed by Kravitz.

“Well, let’s see it,” Magnus said.

“Patience,” Taako said but his fingers were twitching and he really wanted to take off the towel.

“Come on, you’re gonna kill me with anticipation,” Merle said.

“The end result will shock you enough,” Kravitz joked.

He nodded at Taako and Taako tugged at the loose towel that was mostly held up by his ears. It came floating down, his hair spilling out, down and over his shoulders.

Angus gasped. “You look amazing, sir!”

Taako combed through his hair with his fingers to make sure it was lying perfectly. There was just the right amount of wave to it and the light reflected off it, making the color shine.

“Looking good, man!” Magnus said.

“The color suits you,” Merle added.

“Thank you, thank you.” Taako bowed a little. “This was a group effort.”

“So modest,” Kravitz laughed.

“Nah, you did a really good job,” Magnus said. “And Ango did really well, too.”

Angus, who was putting away the bowl they had used, grinned and did a little hop on the ladder he was using.

“Careful there.”

Taako sighed and suddenly noticed how hungry he was. Apparently a beauty marathon took it out of you.

“Anyone wanna come join me for dinner?” he asked, although it was mostly a rhetorical question. He knew his friends could always eat, Angus was still growing and Kravitz would definitely join.

Everyone voiced their agreement very enthusiastically and jumped up to gather things and head out the door.

Kravitz hung up the towel that Taako had just dropped to the floor and Taako waited for him. He took his hand when he came back.

“We should do this more often,” Kravitz said.

“Yes, we should.” Taako shut the door behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know your favorite part? :P
> 
> come talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/luffylaws) or [tumblr](https://luffylaws.tumblr.com) :)


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